Mate vs Mate on the Far South Coast
The Encourage Shield Round Robin was held at Moruya Golf Club over the weekend of the 15-16th June with six teams competing for the crown of FSCDGA Encourage Shield Pennant Champions, and the opportunity to compete in the state wide competition.
On Day 1 it quickly became apparent that the Moruya team was going to be hard to stop, and after the days play Moruya 1 and Moruya 2 were on top of the leader board with five matches for, and one match against each.
In third place was Catalina with three wins for and three wins against. They had some very close matches with two halves in their second match that could have gone either way and were keen to come out flying with fresh legs on Day 2.
Dinner was enjoyed by the players, parents, coaches and managers at Moruya Golf Club. It was then time to head to the Easts Big4 at Dolphin Beach to get some much-needed rest before a big second day.
Day 2 was a cold and brisk morning, but everyone enjoyed breakfast at the Red Rose Café in the middle of town, and warmed up with a bacon and egg roll and a hot drink. By the time 8.00am rolled around, it was time to hit the course again.
Moruya 2 came out of the blocks firing with a 3-0 victory over Tura Beach 1, while Tathra defeated Tura Beach 2 in a very tight match 2.5 to .5. The other match on the course came down to the wire, and eventually Moruya 1 came away with the victory 2.5 to .5 with two of the matches being decided on the final hole.
It was then time to get straight back out on the course for the fourth round and again Moruya 2 were out to stamp some authority on the event beating Tathra 2-1 in another close match. Moruya 1 were out to prove they belong in the state final with a strong victory over Tura Beach 3-0 while Catalina showed a lot of grit and determination to stay in the competition with a strong 3-0 victory over Tura Beach 2.
The players refuelled with some sandwiches and poppers before hitting the course for the final round. The first match out was the two leaders, Moruya 1 and Moruya 2. This match was to see who the champion team for the weekend was and the two places were still up for grabs in the State-Wide Competition.
Two of the matches came down to the last hole but it was Moruya 1 who came away victorious with a 2-1 win over their counterparts. Moruya 2 were then keen to see the results of the other matches to see if they had also made their way into the State-Wide Competition.
Tathra were victorious in their match against Catalina 2-1 which meant Tathra were in third position and Moruya 1 and Moruya 2 were the two teams to make it through to the State Championships. The final match of the day was the two Tura Beach Teams with Tura Beach 1 having their strongest win of the event; 3-0 over their home town rivals.
It was great to watch all of the juniors build friendships over the weekend and we wish the Moruya 1 and Moruya 2 teams all the very best of luck in the first round of the state wide knock out competition.
A huge thank you must go out to the Moruya Golf Club for hosting the event, Red Rose Café for breakfast, Mic Mac for his support over the two days with all of the results and help, all of the Managers and Coaches who supported all of the juniors, and to all of the parents for transporting and caddying for their players.
